The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Osteospermum plant, botanically known as Osteospermum ecklonis, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Aknam.
The new Osteospermum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Aabyhoj, Denmark. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Osteospermum cultivars with interesting ray floret colors and spoon-shaped ray florets.
The new Osteospermum originated from a cross made by the Inventor of an unidentified proprietary Osteospermum ecklonis seedling selection as the male, or pollen, parent with the proprietary Osteospermum ecklonis selection identified as code number 97008 as the female, or seed, parent. The new Osteospermum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross grown in a controlled environment in Aabyhoj, Denmark, in 1998.
Asexual reproduction of the new Osteospermum by vegetative tip cuttings was first conducted in Aabyhoj, Denmark in 1998. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Osteospermum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Aknam has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength, light intensity, water status, and fertility levels without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Aknamxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Aknamxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Osteospermum:
1. Uniformly mounded, outwardly spreading and compact plant habit.
2. Very freely branching growth habit; full and dense plants.
3. Freely flowering with numerous inflorescences per plant.
4. Spoon-shaped ray florets.
5. White-colored ray and disc florets.
Compared to plants of the parent selections, plants of the new Osteospermum are more compact and differ in ray floret coloration.
The new Osteospermum can be compared to the Osteospermum ecklonis culltivar Aksillo, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. application Ser. No. 09/422,169. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Encinitas, Calif., plants of the new Osteospermum differ from plants of the cultivar Aksillo in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Osteospermum have slightly larger inflorescences, more ray florets, larger discs and more disc florets than plants of the culitvar Aksillo.
2. The upper surface of the ray florets of plants of the new Osteospermum is not as pure white in color as the upper surface of ray florets of plants of the cultivar Aksillo.
3. The lower surface of the ray florets of plants of the new Osteospermum is white and pale yellow in color whereas the lower surface of ray florets of plants of the cultivar Aksillo is blue purple.
4. Disc florets of plants of the new Osteospermum are white in color whereas disc florets of plants of the cultivar Aksillo are blue purple.